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Hybrid Compression of Neural Networks for Embedded AI: Balancing Efficiency and Accuracy


Thesis topic details

General information

Organisation

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.

Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.

The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
  

Reference

SL-DRT-26-0047  

Direction

DRT

Thesis topic details

Category

Technological challenges

Thesis topics

Hybrid Compression of Neural Networks for Embedded AI: Balancing Efficiency and Accuracy

Contract

Thèse

Job description

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have become a cornerstone of computer vision, yet deploying them on embedded devices (robots, IoT systems, mobile hardware) remains challenging due to their large size and energy requirements. Model compression is a key solution to make these networks more efficient without severely impacting accuracy. Existing methods (such as weight quantization, low-rank factorization, and sparsity) show promising results but quickly reach their limits when used independently. This PhD will focus on designing a unified optimization framework that combines these techniques in a synergistic way. The work will involve both theoretical aspects (optimization methods, adaptive rank selection) and experimental validation (on benchmark CNNs like ResNet or MobileNet, and on embedded platforms such as Jetson, Raspberry Pi, and FPGA). An optional extension to transformer architectures will also be considered. The project benefits from complementary supervision: academic expertise in tensor decompositions and an industrial-oriented partner specialized in hardware-aware compression.

University / doctoral school

MAthématiques, Télécommunications, Informatique, Signal, Systèmes, Électronique (MATISSE)
Rennes

Thesis topic location

Site

Saclay

Requester

Position start date

01/12/2025

Person to be contacted by the applicant

OUERFELLI Mohamed-Oumar mohamed-oumar.ouerfelli@cea.fr
CEA
DRT/DIASI//LVML
Institut CEA LIST
Communicating Systems Laboratory
CEA Saclay – Nano-INNOV
Bât 862 – PC 173 - F91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex

Tutor / Responsible thesis director

CHILLET Daniel daniel.chillet@irisa.fr
ENSSAT _ Université de Rennes 1

6 rue de Kerampont -- BP 80518
22305 Lannion, Cedex
France

+33 2 96 46 90 69

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